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This four-part series explores the life of the world's greatest and most famous writer. Mixing travel, adventure, interviews, documentary, and live action sequences with the Royal Shakespeare Company, it presents a biography of one Elizabethan: his life, family and friendships, triumphs and disasters, loves and his losses. Viewers see how Shakespeare's life and work were shaped by his times, how he created some of the greatest literature in the world, and why he is still loved. These films reveal how Shakespeare sums up English history--and the English character too--more than any other person. Decent, humane, open minded, tolerant, witty, bawdy, sexy, diffident, guarded, skeptical, wary of any political system, identifying himself with the "Other" in his great portrayals of black people, women, the poor, Jews-- even evil people--Shakespeare is an artist born out of turbulent times. But as his old friend, Ben Jonson said, "He was not of an age, but for all time."Read more...

Originally produced for television broadcast on BBC in the United Kingdom in 2003.

Target Audience:

MPAA rating: Not rated.

Description:

2 videodiscs (ca. 240 min.) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in.

Details:

DVD ; NTSC, region 1 ; Dolby Digital surround stereo.

Contents:

Disc one. Part I Time of revolution (56 min.) --
Part II Lost years (56 min.); Special features: Additional scenes (23 min.); PBS online [text feature]. Disc two. Part III Duty of poets (56 min) --
Part IV For all time (56 min.).

Abstract:

This four-part series explores the life of the world's greatest and most famous writer. Mixing travel, adventure, interviews, documentary, and live action sequences with the Royal Shakespeare Company, it presents a biography of one Elizabethan: his life, family and friendships, triumphs and disasters, loves and his losses. Viewers see how Shakespeare's life and work were shaped by his times, how he created some of the greatest literature in the world, and why he is still loved. These films reveal how Shakespeare sums up English history--and the English character too--more than any other person. Decent, humane, open minded, tolerant, witty, bawdy, sexy, diffident, guarded, skeptical, wary of any political system, identifying himself with the "Other" in his great portrayals of black people, women, the poor, Jews-- even evil people--Shakespeare is an artist born out of turbulent times. But as his old friend, Ben Jonson said, "He was not of an age, but for all time."

"This four-part series explores the life of the world's greatest and most famous writer. Mixing travel, adventure, interviews, documentary, and live action sequences with the Royal Shakespeare Company, it presents a biography of one Elizabethan: his life, family and friendships, triumphs and disasters, loves and his losses. Viewers see how Shakespeare's life and work were shaped by his times, how he created some of the greatest literature in the world, and why he is still loved. These films reveal how Shakespeare sums up English history--and the English character too--more than any other person. Decent, humane, open minded, tolerant, witty, bawdy, sexy, diffident, guarded, skeptical, wary of any political system, identifying himself with the "Other" in his great portrayals of black people, women, the poor, Jews-- even evil people--Shakespeare is an artist born out of turbulent times. But as his old friend, Ben Jonson said, "He was not of an age, but for all time.""@en